The present invention relates to a configuration and method of management in a computer system having a storage, in particular to a configuration and method of integrating the fault management and preset control of a storage and a plurality of computers which are connected to the storage.
Recently, an amount of digital information which is dealt by computer systems which are used in entities has been drastically increased. In association with this, the capacity of a disk volume which is a storage area for storing data thereon has been steadily increased. In order to cope with such an increase in the capacity of the disk volume, the number of devotedly used storages which are connected over networks such as fiber channels and are independent of a main computer and have a plurality of disk volumes having a large capacity which are shared by a plurality of computers has been increasing.
On the other hand, there are various forms of provision of computers using the storages depending upon the utilization of client computers. An example of the above-mentioned typical form of providing computers includes SAN (Storage Area Network) and NAS (Networked Attached Storage). SAN uses host computers so that it is able to achieve a high rate data access by conducting input/output of data in the level of block of a disk to and from the disk volume. On the other hand, NAS uses a file server computer to enable a plurality of client computers to share a file which is data by conducting input/output of data in the level of file to and from the disk volume.
A form of provision of computers (referred to as “NAS over SAN”) in which both above-mentioned SAN and NAS are advantageously used so that both computers for a file server and a host are provided and are associated, a data access from a client computer is processed in unit of file and actual input/output of data to and from the disk volume is conducted in the level of block has recently been emerged.
For example, JP-A-2001-142648 (Publication 1) aims at optimally assigning disk volumes to computers using storages by associating managing means on the storage side with managing means on the computer side.
In Publication 1, the occurrence of a fault is informed to a managing console of the storage if the fault occurs in, for example the storage, but it is not informed to the managing console of a computer having a relationship of connection with the storage. Accordingly, it is necessary for a manager to carry out controls such as inhibition of the connection to a client on the side of related computer by using the managing console of the computer after reference to the configuration information such as connection relationship between the storage and computer. In an environment of NAS over SAN, it is necessary for both a host computer on the side of SAN environment and a file server on the side of NAS environment to operatively carry out the preset control such as afore-mentioned connection inhibition by using respective managing consoles.
In Publication 1, it is necessary for a manager to instruct preset control which will not cause any contradiction over the whole system, from each managing console after considering the connection relationship between the storage and the computer system and between the computers themselves if any of various preset controls such as configuration change is instructed.
In order to carry out the preset control without causing any contradiction over the whole of the system when a fault occurs or the configuration of the storage is changed. The type of preset controls such as client connection inhibition, file sharing inhibition, disk volume mount inhibition and object volume closing should be appropriate, the order of a plurality of presetting controls should be appropriate and an object device which is to be controlled for inhibition is appropriate. Accordingly, a computer system having a storage and a plurality of computers should have a capability of associating storage and computers in response to the fault occurrence information.